Court Hears Accused Agreed Death Would Punish Betrayal in Mbense Case
Brakpan Magistrates’ Court heard Thursday that six accused persons, including suspended Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department deputy chief Brigadier Julius Mkhwanazi, allegedly reached an agreement that anyone revealing details of Emmanuel Mbense’s killing would face capital punishment. The assertion emerged during bail proceedings in a case classified as Schedule 6 murder, which carries a presumption against release.
State prosecutor Nceba Ntelwa outlined to the court how the alleged conspiracy unfolded. According to the prosecution, civilian co-accused Cobus Janse van Rensburg informed the group on April 14, 2022, that Mbense owned one of two trucks used in a warehouse robbery that had occurred the same day. Security guards had been robbed by gunmen who used two trucks and a bakkie to load copper from the facility. Janse van Rensburg allegedly showed the group footage confirming Mbense’s truck was visible at the robbery scene.
What followed, Ntelwa told the court, was a raid on Mbense’s Brakpan home by approximately 15 members drawn from the South African Police Service, the EMPD, and private security companies. The group ransacked the residence, assaulted and tortured Mbense while questioning him about the stolen copper, and took R500,000 in cash from his possession. Ntelwa described the assault in stark terms: “They did not listen to his pleas and kept on assaulting him while others were pinning him down.”
When Mbense died during the assault, the accused allegedly involved Mkhwanazi, who is accused of devising the plan to dispose of the body. Ntelwa stated that Mkhwanazi arrived at the scene and proposed dumping the corpse at Spaarwater Dam, approximately 23 kilometres away. The body was recovered the following afternoon by a fisherman who alerted local police.
After the body was disposed of, the accused allegedly held a meeting at Carnival City where they agreed to maintain silence. At that gathering, according to Ntelwa, a binding agreement was reached: “There was a punishment agreed upon for anyone who would betray the group. That punishment was death.” A second meeting on April 16, 2022, saw members express mutual distrust and concern about potential informants within their ranks.
The six accused appearing before the court are Mkhwanazi; former EMPD officer Keisha-Leigh Stols; EMPD officer Adrian Mackenzie; South African Police Service officer Bhekokwakhe Sibande; Janse van Rensburg; and Jaun Maree Eksteen, wife of police informant Wiandre Pretorius. They face charges of Schedule 6 murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, and defeating or obstructing the course of justice. On the robbery count, the state alleges the accused took bottles of water, R500,000 in cash, a yellow welding machine, tyres, and mag wheels from Mbense’s property.
The case gained renewed prominence through the Madlanga Commission, where evidence was presented regarding an alleged cover-up of Mbense’s death. The late Marius van der Merwe, a security company owner who testified before the commission as Witness D, alleged that Mkhwanazi was called to the scene after Mbense was killed and instructed people to dispose of the body at either a mine dump or in a river. Van der Merwe was shot dead outside his Brakpan home on December 5, 2025, weeks after providing that testimony. The state described him as having been killed by a well-trained marksman.
Ntelwa told the court that four of the 13 people allegedly involved in the events had since died from gunshot wounds. Pretorius, the police informant and husband of co-accused Eksteen, died by suicide on February 7, 2026, at a petrol station in Brakpan, east of Johannesburg. Days before his death, he had survived an apparent assassination attempt outside his home in Boksburg. Pretorius was the first person of interest questioned by SAPS following Van der Merwe’s murder.
The matter was postponed last week after legal arguments erupted over the state’s decision to classify the case as Schedule 6 and oppose bail for all six accused. The bail application was adjourned Thursday, with the defence expected to argue why the accused should be released despite the state’s classification and opposition. Whether the court accepts those arguments will test how firmly the Schedule 6 presumption holds against a group that includes serving and former law enforcement officers.